>> yes, an extraordinary crowd here. >> what numbers were they expecting? it looks like a different reception for a man who would not be in this position very much longer. >> most certainly. i cannot count the numbers but the estimates were up to about 150,000 people here for pope benedict. we believe able be making some reference to his retirement but the bulk of this address will be spiritual, referring to lancent, the run up to easter.

this whole historic departure of pope benedict xvi will be running up to easter but it is very critical in terms of timing. once he flies down and out of st. peter's square on february 28th, the clark starts ticking on the conclave. the college of cardinals will select the new pope. it has to happen around marshall attend. traditionally, by precedent, normally a is 15 days after the pope dies or retires before cardinals come in to make that decision. >> his departure could be considered controversial, but the sheer numbers, we see these banners and the numbers out

there to show that he is still well respected and well loved. been a mixture of emotions this past week. there has been a lot of sadness, a lot of shocked. abouts some consternation what this all means, what the implications are of a former pontiff and a new pope living in the same place where the high walls have secrecy. he has said that he will contemplate and be in prayer for his remaining days on this earth. that are many who believe he can argue anything but influence simply by his mere presence putting psychological pressure on the new pope and there are issues also in relation to its private secretary a loyal

promoted to archbishop just before christmas. he will be in both households. he will be in the formal popple household-- papal and serve as prefect. he will biathlons and the situation. >> of months the hundreds of thousands of people in st. peter's square today as pope benedict xvi delivers his angelus in rome. quite a sight it is today. all those hundreds of thousands of people there to see him before he steps down on february 28th. other news.n to a series of bomb attacks in the iraqi capital. multiple people killed in

baghdad and dozens more injured. this has happened because of shiite disputes. janus live with more. >> these car bombs went off in the midmorning and it is the beginning of the workweek. the streets were particularly crowded. civilians going about their business for the most part, but they were not the only attacks today. there was also a series of attempted roadside bombs in the same area. they defused at least 11 set to go off one right after the other. there's no claim of responsibility yet. theyuthorities are saying believe the car bombs are tied to a qaeda. >> thank you for that update. this, this isrge despite a decision from calling

in for an air strike from residential areas. general buffered also said reducing civilian casualties is tantamount. jennifer is our correspondents in kabul and she spoke to general done friedan's sent us this report. >> the new commander of nato and american forces here says that any understand the president's not callying they may in nato air strikes where there are afghans of billions, afghan homes or villages. he is meeting this afternoon with his afghan counterpart to work out the modalities of implementing this decree on the ground. this is all following an air strike on wednesday leaving 10

afghan civilians dead. there were called in by his own afghan security forces, afghan security forces. these measures were to mitigate civilian casualties and had a number of them last year in 2012. general dunford the protecting civilians is what it is all about. he is working to implement his new presidential decree as he moves forward in his support as tens of thousands of nato forces leave an afghanistan takes the lead in securing the country for the afghan people. >> the u.n. peace envoy to syria has been talking with the arab league in cairo. brahimi talks between the two.

but he said he would be willing to meet it with a representative from the regime. live pictures coming in now from benghazi was libyans marking the second anniversary of the start of their uprising against gaddafi. celebrations are planned but there's also a growing resentment toward the current government. please is demanding more security and more autonomy. let's go to tripoli. let's talk about what some of those issues are. some of those issues that people have with the tripoli government. the east, people there have a lot of reasons. this is why the government and officials chose to hold the official ceremony for the anniversary year. they want to show the people that we are here to serve.

the people there believe that the government is marginalizing the east similar to what happened during the gaddafi regime. people want to see more services. people want security. we heard the head of the general national congress talking about money to fight corruption and fix security in order to allow for development. these are just words. people want action. when you talk to people in tripoli, it's different. people here are more willing to give the government said chance for more time, but we have to understand that this is not just about improving the daily lives and their standard of living. some of them are even calling for annual central government and others calling for federalism. >> what is happening where you are today? a big party. the festivities began days ago

with people driving around carrying the new flag, honking their horns. we expect a very big party your. undoubtedly, people have concerns. there are a lot of divisions in post-conflict libya. one is holding a national dialogue of reconciliation. there's still no transition. the armed groups remain more artful than the government. they say they are on a more powerful than a toothless tiger. celebratehe time to freedom and this is what they're going on to do. live are from the tripoli, thank you, dana. one-year since the shutdown in south sudan. of kosovothe capital where the and young best country is celebrating their fifth anniversary of their self- declared independence.

>> here's a look at the international forecast. plenty of showers across australia. some showersees affecting the east coast of queensland over the next few days. that certainly has the potential to bring some flooding gulfl the way down to the coast. 23 degrees celsius. no. when picking up the temperature once again in mel boring to about 35 degrees. 27 for perth. staying dry and pretty quiet there in new zealand. getting up to 20 degrees. dry weather making its way across india over the next

couple of days, but in the south and was still a few showers there and to china. some showers pushing into the far south of the country and also went to sri lanka. a chance for some drier weather coming through. a very pleasant 25 degrees celsius in doha. acrossking to about northern parts of the middle east. clouds and rain making their way area and rain for beirut. jazeera, aies on our regional government accusing the pakistan government for not

protecting the people following the deaths of 84 people. a man in charge of international forces in afghanistan's as reducing civilian casualty is paramount. general dunford reacting to karzai's decision to ban the army and calling in foreign bourses to conduct air strikes in residential areas. a few minutes ago, the pope arrived for his penultimate sunday mass. it does called hundreds of thousands of people into st. peter's square. he says, i beg you to continue praying for me and the next pope. he thanked the faithful for their prayers and support. 150,000 people in vatican city today to see the pope. the chinese prime minister has demanded an explanation from

malaysia. we have more. he was in the fact-finding mission in malaysia before the elections. he was denied entry on orders of the malaysian and government. in australia he spoke to us from adelaide. is in government is trying to downplay the importance of his own visit. >> let's clear this up. the is a line being said by prime minister. i am very that up with his apologist line. there were three other members of the trillion parliament coming on this visit and two of them actually had a program from a special minister of state. we're all went to provide a report involving members of the opposition and myself as an independent. to call this an unofficial visit is a little bit pejorative on behalf of the foreign minister of australia.

we were there to help the electoral commission and provide a report to the austrian parliament on malaysia. primeed up with our minister trying to diminish this visit in the way that he has. >> he described him as an apologist. you're going there to look at how free and fair election would be and that is ruffling his brothers? >> i'm very grateful for his statement expressing his disappointment and asking for my immediate release when he heard i was detained, but last november i was in kuala lumpur and i was given a hand written note from the opposition leader. it was an impassioned plea to the prime minister to basically say, australia, you're one of our last best hopes in the region and as a close friend of

malaysia, and sure that the elections are going to be a clean and fair. it is about australia doing a ensure malaysia is, to that there are independent elections observed, not interfering, but to make sure the elections are clean and fair. that plea to be a trillion prime minister was dismissed out of hand and we now have almost proof of what the malaysian government may be planning for the forthcoming elections, the fact that they're prepared to deport with friendly intentions just simply be part of an observation of the election process. >> they say human rights abuses are still going on in me in march despite reform. -- in myanmar. police are still resting in talking to people accused of being rebels.

both muslims and buddhists are continuing to suffer the consequences of violence but the government has finally been able to control, but this must remain as excessive force are being abused. >> them kidnapped foreign workers from a construction company in the north after they killed a group security guard. a similar attack on saturday when they try to take over a police station but were repelled by security forces. 1 years in about south sudan shut down the oil production, a bargaining tool used against its neighbor, the sudan. they rely on them to transport the fuel that they produced we have more from the south sudanese capital. >> an exponential rise in inflation, the collapse of gdp,

they believedate fall intoy would chaos. did not know the consequences would be from stopping oil production. one year ago, the balance sheet indicated that it would be six- nine months. >> they turned out to be not quite the pace.

i think that there may be other things that the minister of finance may not be sharing. >> they're referring to this that cut spending and the garmin managed to provide. many people may be much harder and this could be causing about this to affect food prices. 30 pounds andt flounder is up to 50. thoseteral money, but prices are really high. >> dave surprised critics by being able to keep the economy afloat for the last year and now the government says they have sold the oil blocks to raise $1 million u.s.. there are concerns they sold

their future prosperity in exchange for short-term survival. al-jazeera, south sudan. >> ecuador heading to the polls for the first round of presidential elections. opinion polls predict an easy reelection. soldiers have been a disturbing collection of materials and helping to set up polling stations. he is a popular president and he has in the parading of nearly 85%. according to the polls there, the conservative leader has a 15 point lead over his closest rival. he is not predicted to win an outright majority which could lead to a runoff next week. the fifth member of the eurozone has requested a bailout. kosovo is celebrating by years of independence. they're still frustrated by the slow pace of economic reform. paul brennan has the report now from their capital.

>> today, it is her fifth birthday. her parents are as proud as any would be. it is not just any little girl. back in 2008, she became the first child to be born in the independent kosovo. this is the albanian word for independence and she has become a symbol of an degeneration. >> when she was born, she was only able to cry. now she has learned to walk and talk. in a similar way, we need to grow and develop. >> the viewer is 17th, 2008, they were brimming with pride and relief. the newborn monument was first unveiled. they have so far recognized

kosovo's independent. this is aimed at foreign investors and the it has been as a young country with lots of young, enterprising people, increasingly favorable environment for investors. all of that is true, to a point. converting the potential here and your reality proves very difficult. pavedad since has been with good intentions, not always the filling. in population of 1.7 million, unemployment is 4.5% and rising. the average monthly wage is $387. relations with serbia are also a priority for the government. >> we want to be good neighbors and we want to recognize each other as independent countries that want to be a part of nato and the eu. >> one of the biggest criticisms

of the government spends too much time on politics and not enough addressing the day-to-day economic reality of the people. kind ofrows up, what kosovo will she see? for now, she's just looking forward to a good party. >> today, i am 5. how happy i am. may it live for ever, independence. paul brennan, al-jazeera, kosovo. >> it has been a cold, snowy winter, but this is the perfect time to surf. it brings in a swell for wave riders. we have the story. a trip to the beach in the middle of a south korean winter would not encourage it to her car -- a common sense response -- stay out of the water. unless you are one of a growing band of highly enthusiastic in

the area. he has been serving for more than 10 years and years now i coast -- a coach. >> in the summer coming you can swim. there are loads of other things you can do. the waves are